New Delhi: Former India captain and star batter Virat Kohli turned 37 on Wednesday, November 5. He has played 123 Tests, 305 ODIs and 125 T20Is for India, scoring 82 centuries and 144 half-centuries so far. Kohli has scored 27,673 runs with the highest score of an unbeaten 254 in Test Cricket.
In ODIs, he has scored 14255 runs with 183 as his highest score, so far. Kohli was born in Delhi and has represented India in 544 matches so far. He announced his retirement from the shortest format after winning the 2024 T20I World Cup, and also retired from Test cricket midway through the IPL 2025. However, the star batter is still aiming to play in the 2027 ODI World Cup.
He made his Test debut against the West Indies on June 20, 2011, and played his last Test against Australia on January 3, 2025. During his career, he has demonstrated brilliant consistency against some of the fiercest and one of the best bowling attacks.
He dominated fast bowlers like Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Broad, Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada, and the spinners like Nathan Lyon and Adil Rashid with his perfect technique. Here are the top 5 knocks of Virat Kohli in international cricket.
119 vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2013
In the first Test against South Africa, Kohli played a brilliant knock that reminded South Africa’s then bowling coach, Allan Donald, of Tendulkar. In seaming and overcast conditions against Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, Kohli left the ball early on, before opening up and targeting the spin bowlers. His innings allowed India to get to a winning position before the match ended in a tense draw.
254 vs South Africa, Pune, 2019
Virat Kohli’s career-best Test score of an unbeaten 254 runs against South Africa in the second Test at Pune. He walked in to bat at 136/2 after the openers laid a good foundation. He anchored the innings with good touch, pacing his knock perfectly.
He smashed 33 boundaries and 2 sixes, dismantling a quality South African bowling attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander, and debutant Anrich Nortje. Kohli’s unbeaten double-hundred helped India declare at 601/5, setting up a dominant innings and 137-run win.
183 vs Pakistan, Dhaka, 2012
Pakistan and Australia have been Kohli’s favourite opponents to play against since the start. In the 2012 Asia Cup, Kohli scored 183 runs in 148 balls in an ODI match against the neighbours, smashing 22 boundaries and four maximums. That knock remains his highest score in the format to date.
Chasing 330, Kohli walked in to bat in the first over and watched the ball carefully before playing his shots against Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi, and Wahab Riaz.
82 vs Pakistan, Melbourne, 2022
Chasing the target of 160 runs, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma failed to contribute with the bat. Kohli walked in to bat at No.3 and started slowly in the seaming conditions. He paced his innings brilliantly and took the likes of Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah to cleaners. He played a sensational knock and scored an unbeaten 82 runs off 53 balls with the help of six boundaries and four maximums.
133 vs Sri Lanka, Hobart, 2012
Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 133 runs in just 86 balls at Hobart, and it remains one of the most iconic ODI innings ever played in Australia. The Men in Blue needed to chase 321 in under 40 overs to stay alive in the CB Series, which looked impossible task. But Kohli attacked the Sri Lankan bowlers, particularly Lasith Malinga, smashing 16 boundaries and two maximums. India chased down the target in 36.4 overs, and Kohli’s innings not only kept the team in contention but also cemented his reputation as a world-class chaser.